The embattled LP&L director knew 16 months before denying he had knowledge a consultant crafted the template to build a multimillion-dollar power plant that would put the city utility on the grid. And he knew eight months before asking that consultant, Todd Hegwer, for a favor.

Zheng knew because on June 12, 2012, he received a five-page letter, on company letterhead, from Paul Trygstad, vice president of engineering for Alpine Energy Group, outlining how the company could help Lubbock Power & Light get electricity after its contract with Xcel ends in 2019.

The revelation comes after A-J Media went through more than 70,000 pages of documents showing AEG stayed in the bidding process even after LP&L staff said it shouldn’t and that a former Lubbock mayor questioned Zheng’s role in the process.

Now, at least one Electric Utility Board member who voted to place Zheng on administrative leave still shows some support for the CEO, while Mayor Glen Robertson said he stands behind his concerns about Zheng and warns there’s more to come.

Contact with AEG

In the June 12 letter, Trygstad writes that AEG is “enthused with the opportunity to support LP&L” and touts the experience of Alpine and E3 Consulting, a sister company.

“We would like to assist LP&L with effective support and be a part of the next generation of success stories,” Trygstad wrote. “We look forward to getting started and working with LP&L. Please contact me or Todd Hegwer if you would like to schedule a follow-up meeting and discuss the project in more detail.”

That’s apparently what Zheng did.

Two months later, Zheng was on the calendar to meet with Hegwer and the Alpine VP in September, according to an Aug. 30, 2012, email.

In fact, Hegwer and Zheng exchanged a number of emails leading up to the March 26 afternoon last year when Zheng asked the AEG consultant, “Do you have the old RFQ?” – referring to a previous proposal Hegwer had drafted for the West Texas Municipal Power Agency, of which Lubbock is a member.

Hegwer replied three hours later: “Yes, I have even modified it for you.”

What these newly released documents show is Hegwer was helping Zheng draft the city’s request for proposals while working with AEG to get the bid.

Zheng did not return four emails and cellphone calls seeking comment Friday. His attorney did not respond to an email.

But after being placed on administrative leave last month, Zheng said in a statement to the A-J that “character assassination or bullying tactics” could not change that he “turned around the company that had been near bankruptcy.”

The more than 70,000 pages of LP&L documents were obtained through a public information request for all the records used in last year’s investigation into bid-rigging allegations.

That $270,000-plus investigation was conducted by Texas-based law firm Ashcroft Sutton Ratcliffe, and led by former U.S. attorney Johnny Sutton.

The report, which was completed in January, found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing.

Sutton said attorney-client privilege prevented him from commenting on the investigation.

Tainted bidding process

LP&L has never released the names of the finalists who bid on the city’s project to build a power plant. Nor has the utility named the consultant referred to in the Ashcroft report.

A document obtained by the A-J, however, shows AEG West Texas was the top choice to win the city’s most lucrative contract where around $7 billion was at stake.

It is uncertain when city officials first became concerned with the unknown relationship between the utility and AEG. But in a May 21, 2013, email, James Gilmore, LP&L’s production supervisor, informed AEG’s vice president of engineering that the company would not be considered for the bid.

“The administration had a discussion about the work done by E3, specifically with regards to the feasibility of new generation,” Gilmore told Trygstad.

“Since Alpine is bidding on the new generation RFP, it was concluded that they may have benefitted from the work E3 had done. Therefore, the proposals for that work have been declined.”

It is unclear why the AEG proposal continued to go through the bidding process.

Todd Kimbrough, LP&L’s general counsel and interim director since Zheng was placed on leave, said he didn’t know but that he had “full confidence in the process.”

Robertson, who has led the charge to have Zheng removed from his post, said he had not seen the June 12 letter but that he had seen enough to convince him that Zheng was being less than truthful.

“The bid process was flawed, no doubt,” Robertson said. “The board was never told the truth.”

Former LP&L board member Marc McDougal, who served when the RFP was drafted, couldn’t say for certain that Zheng did anything illegal.

“To me, I think there is a difference between wrong and illegal,” McDougal said. “But, yes, I think he did a lot wrong.”

“He did say he didn’t know, but you have to remember that when we were asking him that, it was eight months after all that had occurred,” she said.

The city has withheld some of the information the A-J requested, saying it is exempt from disclosure under the Texas Public Information Act. The A-J is awaiting a decision from Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott.

An unusually tight-lipped Robertson on Friday said more was likely to come out.